After one week with Nikon’s top of the line DSLR the D6, what are my thoughts? Where does the D6 fit in the cameras that I already have?
I already have the Nikon D850 which is an absolutely amazing camera with a 45 megapixel full frame sensor. However, it has a slower frame rate than the D6 and the autofocus of the D6 is more advanced.
I also have the D500 which can capture 10 frames per second and has a great autofocus system. But it is a cropped sensor camera so it isn’t as great for wide angle photography.
Both the D850 and the D500 have screens that can pop out for easier composition when the camera is at different angles which the D6 does not have.
Finally, I have the D4S which is Nikon’s older pro level flagship DSLR. Are the improvements of the D6 enough for an upgrade?
As it is the top of the line DSLR from Nikon, there are a ton of things that the D6 is capable of doing. And after one week with the camera, I definitely didn’t get a chance to test everything. However, there are a few key features that I wanted to test out: autofocus, frame rate, and High ISO capability. I also wanted to explore the customization of the camera as this turned out to be one of my favourite parts of using the D6.
Autofocus
As you would expect, the autofocus is incredibly fast and accurate on the D6. But the autofocus system is so much more than that. There are many different autofocus modes that you can choose from to suit whatever you are trying to do.
You can create your own groups and customize the size of the focus area that you use for autofocus. Like some other cameras, you can even customize the persistence of the focus points on the subject so it stays with the subject longer or quickly moves to another subject.
I tended to use three types of autofocus. Most of the time, I used single point autofocus where I choose the one focus point and put it on my subject. If there was a moving subject and I had trouble keeping my one focus point on it, I would use 9 point dynamic autofocus.
If there was an erratic moving subject, I used 3D tracking autofocus. This worked extremely well. I would start with my focus point on the subject and then switch to 3D tracking and the D6 did an amazing job of keeping my subject in focus.
Here is the beauty of the D6. These autofocus settings can be customized to easily access them with the touch of a button.
To start, I used the shutter release button for my single point autofocus. I set the AF On button so when I pressed it, the camera would seamlessly switch to the 9 point dynamic autofocus setting. When I pressed the subselector button the D6 would switch to 3D tracking Autofocus. This worked incredibly well and was incredibly fast.
I also experimented with the face detection Autofocus system by customizing the function 2 button on the front of the camera. It worked pretty well but after having used the face and eye detection of the Nikon Z7ii, I definitely prefer the Z7ii for face and eye detection autofocus. I loved the accuracy of eye detection autofocus the Z7ii. It was able to find the eye of my subject and I could even switch between the eyes of my subject. Check out my video on the Z7ii to see some examples.
When comparing the autofocus of the Z7ii and the D6, the Z7ii has 493 autofocus sensors that cover the entire frame while the D6 has 105 cross type sensors that don’t extend to the edges of the frame.
Image on the left is the Z7ii’s 493 focus points and the image on the right is the D6’s 105 cross type focus points.
However, overall, I found the D6 to be much faster and much more accurate especially when it came to moving subjects. The one exception was that the Z7ii did have the edge when it came to the face and eye detection autofocus.
Frame Rate
Another thing that I wanted to test with the D6 was the maximum frame rate of 14 frames per second. My D850 shoots at 7 frames per second and my D500 shoots at 10 frames per second.
How much of a difference do these extra frames make?
As the D6 is a full frame camera, I wanted to test it beside my D850. I know that the frame rate of the D6 is double that of the D850, but how much of a difference does that really make?
I set up the D6 and the D850 side by side with the same lens – the 70-200mm f2.8 and had my subject run through the frame. This comparison shows the frame rate of the two cameras.
As you can see, I got around twice as many images from the D6 as I did from the D850.
When it comes to action photography, having extra frames to choose from at the peak of the action makes all the difference. The D6 gives me twice the number of frames to choose from when compared to the D850.
The thing about action photography is that the peak of action is literally a split second and it is crucial to have as many images in that split second as possible. The D6 gives me the most options and choices when it comes to choosing an image.
High ISO
It seems like the high ISO performance of every newer generation of camera just gets better and better.
The D6 is a full frame camera and so I wanted to compare it to my older D4S and the D850.
The D6 blew the other two cameras away in terms of high ISO performance. The range of the native ISO of the D850 is 64 to 25,600 and is expandable up to 102,400. The native ISO range of the D4S is 100 to 25,600 and is expandable up to 409,600. The D6 native ISO range is 100 to 102,400 and is expandable ISO 3,280,000 on the upper end. The usable ISOs are only in the native range so the D6 gives you 2 extra ISO steps in low light.
Check out this side by side comparison. The D850 goes down to a native ISO of 64 while the other two cameras do not. As you can see, within the native ISO range, all the cameras have slight differences but perform well. When you get out of the native range, the image quality isn’t great.
The image on the left shows images captured on the D850 at various ISOs ranging from 64 to 25,600 (the native ISO range for the D850) and then the 2 high settings. The image on the right shows images captured on the D6 ranging from 100 to 102,400 (the native ISO range for the D6) and the High ISO options. The High 5 option is an incredible 3,280,000. The best quality of both cameras is in the .native ISO range
Overall
Overall, the D6 is an incredible camera. Nikon’s flagship DSLR camera definitely doesn’t disappoint. The D6 really does excel in focusing, a frame rate of 14 frames per second while still focusing on the subject and capturing images at a high ISO. Does it have a place in my bag when I already have the D850, D4S and the D500?
If I only had one camera, the D6 would be a fantastic choice because it can do pretty much anything. If I were a full time sports photographer or or someone who needed the high frame rate, reliable fast focus and high ISO performance, then I would say yes. But with the type of photography that I do and the cameras that I already have, I think that I could probably use the money that I would spend on the D6 on something. Perhaps even the Z9.
